Signal Hill Elementary School A School in the Long Beach Unified School District

Why Signal Hill Was Selected

To identify a pool of high-performing schools we examined student and school performance data from 2002-03 through 2006-07. An overview of our methodology is posted on this website. Generally, we selected schools to highlight based on the following criteria:

• Substantially higher school performance than predicted: As indicated by a Similar Schools rank of 10 in 2006-07, Signal Hill students are performing well above the levels of their peers in similar schools.
• Meeting or exceeding subgroup performance standards: Signal Hill students in all subgroups are meeting or exceeding Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals in both English language arts and mathematics.
• Sustained performance over time: Signal Hill has never been identified for program improvement under No Child Left Behind and has met all AYP requirements. Furthermore, Signal Hill has met all Academic Performance Index (API) targets across all subgroups.
• High poverty: 88% percent of Signal Hill students are eligible to receive free or reduced price lunch.
• No selectivity in admissions: Signal Hill serves neighborhood students within their attendance

Recognition of Signal Hill's Success

Signal Hill was named a 2004 California Distinguished School and was recognized as a Title I Achieving School in 2008. Signal Hill also received the Panasonic Fordham University National School Change Award in 2007 and won the 2008 National Excellence in Urban Education Award.

Factors in Signal Hill's Success

“It’s all about the people,” says Principal Karen Williams. Principal Williams explains that it is the quality of leadership, instruction, and support staff—not outside consultants or programs—that account for the high student achievement at her school. When Principal Williams came to Signal Hill six years ago, one of her primary goals was to distribute leadership across the staff, based upon strong camaraderie and trust. Leadership can currently be found among the site-based decision-making team comprised of teachers, the learning director who acts somewhat as a vice principal, the Safe and Civil Team, and a Cotsen Family Foundation teacher mentor. Grade level meetings, which have a rotating chairperson, also provide teachers the opportunity to lead.

Quality instruction, based on individual student needs, also plays a role in students’ success, along with a number of support strategies—from extended-day kindergarten, to literacy-focused classes for struggling students, to Reading Recovery, to a full-time counselor on-site. Teacher collaboration, both formal and informal, enables teachers to move toward the school’s mission of ensuring all students reach their greatest potential through continuous improvement. With an atmosphere of openness and trust, teachers are accountable to each other, sharing individual and class test data, best practices and strategies, and learning evidence between grade levels.

How Signal Hill Supports Student Learning

• Develop literacy focus classes: The lowest achieving students are placed in literacy-focused classes where they are taught by a veteran teacher and are given extra support from a reading specialist. The goal is to prepare these students so they can move to a general class within the year.
• Provide extended day kindergarten: All kindergarten classes are longer than typical kindergarten classes. Signal Hill has four kindergarten classes that are four hours long, with a reading hour, taught by two teachers, which reduces class sizes to 10:1. Two other classes are five hours long with one teacher.
• Supply Reading Recovery / Reading Specialists: The lowest achieving first grade students in reading see a Reading Recovery teacher. There are four Reading Recovery teachers at Signal Hill. According to the principal, the percentage of students at Signal Hill who demonstrate reading at grade level after completing the 16-20 week Reading Recovery program is higher than district and national averages. When these teachers are not working with first graders, they go into grade 2-5 classes or pull out specific students to work with small groups of struggling readers.
• Provide a full-time counselor: A full-time school counselor, funded by school and district funds, meets with students daily to work on behavior and academic issues. The counselor also supports families by linking them to outside resources and services.